Pipe, such as plastic, copper, lead pipe and the like, has been used for connecting homes and creating networks for utilities, for instance, water, sewage and natural gas. As pipes become older, they break down, crack, develop scaling on interior surfaces that can clog the pipe, etc. and thereby require replacement.
A technique know as pipe bursting is currently used as a convenient method to replace underground pipe without the need to completely dig up the pipe to be replaced. A pipe breaking device, such as an expander or a mole, is pulled by a cable through the existing pipe while it is still underground. The expander is designed to break, split or burst the pipe, and at the same time to push the old pipe into the surrounding soil. The expansion of the old pipe allows the expander to pull a replacement pipe into place.
Pipe splitters typically use one or more cutting surfaces to split pipe material. Typically, the cutting surfaces engage against the end of the pipe and are pulled longitudinally to split the pipe. Large pulling forces are required to pull cutting surfaces with this configuration through the pipe material and thereby split the pipe. In some examples, where the existing pipe is located in soft soil, the pulling force transmitted from the cutting surfaces to the pipe will move the pipe through the soil instead of splitting the pipe material.
In other examples, pipe splitters are used to burst small diameter pipes and thereby must navigate tight bends in the pipe. An elongate pipe splitter experiences stress as it attempts to navigate tight bends and sometimes fractures within the pipe. This requires extraction and replacement of the pipe splitter to continue the operation. Replacement of the pipe splitter increases labor. Additionally, the pipe splitter is constructed with hardened steel in some examples, and is expensive. Replacing the pipe splitter thereby increases the cost of splitting small diameter pipes.
What is needed is a pipe splitter that provides consistent cutting without requiring excessive pulling forces. What is further needed is a pipe splitter capable of navigating bends in small diameter pipes without fracturing.